Publishing Ethics

In order to ensure the highest possible quality and scientific integrity of the published materials, the Editorial Board of the Intellectual Property Law Review is guided by the guidelines on publication ethics developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The editors base their actions on the principles described below.

General principles of scientific integrity and impartiality

The editors of the Intellectual Property Law Review and reviewers of materials submitted to the journal respect the principles of scientific integrity and impartiality in their activities.

Materials submitted for publication should meet the ethical requirements for scientific publications. In particular, authors are required to submit materials that are independent and original studies of specific problematic issues. All borrowings, citations and references to other publications (including publications of the author himself) should be clearly marked in the text, with clear indication of their creator and source.

At the request of the Editorial Board, the authors should provide source data and give any explanation of the research methods used in the scientific work that resulted in the study submitted for publication.

Countering discrimination

Materials submitted to the Intellectual Property Law Review are evaluated solely on the basis of their scientific level. The evaluation is not influenced by the circumstances of the author himself, including his origin, nationality, ethnicity, political views, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Confidentiality

The Editorial Board do not disclose data, documents and other information obtained at all stages of the publication process. This rule includes, in particular, submitted materials, data of the author or authors, reviews and correspondence between editors and authors. Reviewers and authors are also obliged to observe the above principle of confidentiality.

The editors make public the information necessary for the proper publication of materials, as well as their indexing by search engines.

Originality

The Editorial Board accept for publication materials that have not been previously made available to the public. The author is obliged to make an appropriate statement in this regard. In particularly justified cases, it is permissible to publish materials that have been previously made available to the public - with the consent of the copyright holder and with a clear annotation in this regard in the text.

Prevention of author's moral rights infringement (anti-plagiarism policy)

If any violations of author's moral rights or violations of scientific ethics are found, the Editorial Board will refuse to publish the materials sent. The above rule applies especially to materials:

• containing unauthorized borrowing from the studies of other authors (plagiarism),
• containing numerous fragments of previously published studies by the same author (self-plagiarism),
• created by a person other than the one indicated as the author of the material(ghostwriting),
• marked with authorship or co-authorship of a person whose creative contribution to the preparation of the study did not take place or was marginal (guest autorship).

The above practices are a manifestation of scientific dishonesty. In case of suspicion that the author has committed such acts, the Editorial Board shall take action in accordance with the procedure specified in the COPE diagrams. The Editorial Board shall disclose any cases of scientific dishonesty and notify the relevant entities, including state authorities.

The editors use anti-plagiarism software, implemented by the University of Silesia Publishing House, to verify the originality of the text and the extent of any borrowing from third-party publications. The originality of papers is also supervised by reviewers.

Countering conflicts of interest

In order to confirm the credibility and reliability of the research conducted, the authors are required to provide appropriate explanations for circumstances that could create doubts about their impartiality and objectivity in conducting the research or interpreting its results. This applies especially to:

• sources of research funding (in particular, whether the funds come from private or public sources);
• circumstances related to the author's person (e.g., active participation in a dispute, advising a party to the dispute, business activities, political activities, social activities, participation in the legislative process, etc.);
• non-scientific circumstances of the creation of materials (e.g., preparation of a commercial legal opinion).

Withdrawal of already published study

In the event of an obvious violation of author's moral rights, author's economic rights, principles of ethics or principles of scientific integrity as described above, the Editorial Board reserves the right to withdraw a paper that has already been published. In such a case, the materials will be removed from the journal's website. Before deciding to withdraw a particular publication, the editors will ask the author to provide appropriate explanations.

Countering conflicts of interest regarding reviewers

The Editorial Board submit materials to reviewers who are not connected with the authors by relations that could cause a conflict of interest.  In the area of personal relations, a reviewer and an author must not be related by blood, marriage, affinity or other close personal ties (e.g. cohabitation).